Is there any mention of Dinosaurs in the Bible?

Question

If so where can I find it? And what is it saying about them? I ask because my mother told me that the bible does in fact mention Dino's. I myself have never read the bible and have only recently just started. I find the more I read, the more questions I have.

Answer 1

The Bible refers to many the common animals we know today. The list includes lions, wolves, bears, sheep, cattle and dogs along with various kinds of birds, rodents, reptiles, and insects. What is interesting is that this extensive list includes three animals that we no longer recognize. These three are (in the original Hebrew language) tanniyn, b@hemowth (yes, it’s spelled correctly—at least as close as I can get in Roman characters), and livyathan.

Although we alter the spelling of behemoth and Leviathan slightly, we still use those same words in bibles today. However, tanniyn is always translated into another word when we write it in English. Tanniyn occurs 28 times in the Bible and is normally translated “dragon.” It is also translated “serpent,” “sea monster,” “dinosaur,” “great creature,” and “reptile.” Behemoth and Leviathan are relatively specific creatures, perhaps each was a single kind of animal. Tanniyn is a more general term, and it can be thought of as the original version of the word “dinosaur.” The word “dinosaur” was originally coined in 1841, more than three thousand years after the Bible first referred to “Tanniyn.”

Answer 2

There are some who say that references to a leviathan or sometimes a beast are referring to dinosaurs.

However, my question, if dinosaurs and man lived at the same time then there should be tons of references to dinosaurs. There are meat eating dinosaurs that would love to eat humans. Humans have no claws, horns, or scaley skin and we run pretty slow. Dinosaurs would have had a grand old time feasting on humans. You would think that there would be a lot in the bible casting dinosaurs as demons or tools of god to punish the unholy. However, you don't.

Also, there are some large dinosaurs that man would eat. Take down one of the big ones and you can feed a group of people for a year. Also, eating the eggs. Some of those eggs were pretty good sized. However, there is no mention of humans reaping the bounty of eating dinosaurs.

Finally, there would be the domestication of dinosaurs. Imagine the amount of work you could get if you could harness up one of the big boys. Just transporting goods alone would have been greatly aided by the use of dinosaur. However, they are not mentioned.

If mankind and dinosaurs lived together, they would have greatly influenced each other's existance. If a book was written back then, there should be plenty of references to dinosaurs. However, the only parts that could warrent a mention are pretty vague and do not make it seem like those bible beasts lived away from man. Dinosaurs were too widespread for this to be true.

Keep reading and keep questioning.

Answer 3

The dinosaurs and all the fossil evidence are the 'Achilles heel' of the Bible, if you deny they existed you have a problem with the Bible, if you acknowledge they existed, you have a problem with the Bible. Dinosaurs are not mentioned in the Bible, however as you can see Christians will always find 'open-ended' words and passages in the Bible which can be interpreted and accomodated to account for the dinosaurs. But then, how can they explain why God created these colossal creatures to destroy them and create us? Or like someone else said, the 'dinosaurs were created by the devil'? Then, the devil can also create creatures? can someone explain? Better yet, I would say the dinosaurs are 'the can of worms' in the Bible.

Answer 4

Yes, there are references to dinosaurs.
Personally, I find this website helpful in answering biblical questions:

www.gotquestions.org

This is what they say about dinosaurs:
Question: "What does the Bible say about dinosaurs? Are there dinosaurs in the Bible?"

Answer: The topic of dinosaurs in the Bible is part of a larger ongoing debate within the Christian community over the age of the earth, the proper interpretation of Genesis, and how to interpret the physical evidences we find all around us. Those who believe in an older age for the earth tend to agree that the Bible does not mention dinosaurs, because according to their paradigm, dinosaurs died out millions of years before the first man ever walked the earth. The men who wrote the Bible down couldn’t have seen dinosaurs alive.

Those who believe in a younger age for the earth tend to agree that the Bible does mention dinosaurs though it never actually uses the word “dinosaur.” Instead, it uses the Hebrew word tanniyn (pronounced tan-neen; Strong’s #08577). Tanniyn is translated a few different ways in our English Bibles; sometimes it’s “sea monster,” sometimes it’s “serpent.” It is most commonly translated “dragon.” The tanniyn appear to have been some sort of giant reptile. These creatures are mentioned nearly thirty times in the Old Testament and are found both on land and in the water.
In addition to mentioning these giant reptiles in general nearly thirty times throughout the Old Testament, the Bible describes a couple of creatures in such a way that some scholars believe the writers may have been describing dinosaurs. Behemoth is said to be the mightiest of all God’s creatures, a giant whose tail is likened to a cedar tree (Job 40:15ff). Some scholars have tried to identify Behemoth as either an elephant or a hippopotamus. Others point out that elephants and hippopotamuses have very thin tails, nothing comparable to a cedar tree. Dinosaurs like the Brachiosaurus and the Diplodocus on the other had huge tails which one could easily compare to a cedar tree.

Answer 5

Hiya

The Bible doesn't say too much about the creatures that lived on the earth before man was created.

Some critics may say that this is proof that the Bible is wrong , because they aren't spoken of, but is that sensible thinking ? , No !

The Bible doesn't mention anything about airplanes . tv , the internet , or even ,,ummm - 'ME'
But I am pretty sure that these things do in fact exist.


I have been a Bible student for over 40 years now and I have absolutely no problems at all about the fact that dinosaurs aren't specifically mentioned in the scriptures.

For more Bible based info please feel free to email me.

Answer 6

Asked nearly 1000 times, this I now consider this a drinking question.

The word "dinosaur" wasn't invented until the modern era - over 1000 years after the Bible was prepared, so - unless you are reading a modern translation that attempts to ascribe "dinosaur" to either the Leviathan or Behemoth, you're not going to find a dinosaur in the Bible.

Dinosaurs didn't develop opposable thumbs, so there was no need to give them a Bible they couldn't read.

Answer 7

No. There is no mention of dinosaurs in the Bible. The dinosaurs existed a few billion years before humans.

Answer 8

It doesn't. The book of Job mentions Behemoth, which some think was a brachiosaur, but was almost certainly a rhino. Dinosaurs died out 65 million years before the Bible was written.

Answer 9

The designation “Behemoth,” appearing at Job 40:15, has been variously viewed as (1) a derivative of an Egyptian word for “water ox,” (2) a word possibly of Assyrian origin meaning “monster,” and (3) an intensified plural of the Hebrew word behe·mah′ (beast; domestic animal) that is understood to denote “great beast” or “huge beast.” In the Greek Septuagint the word the·ri′a (wild beasts) translates the Hebrew behe·mohth′. Evidently, though, a single animal is meant, as is indicated by the fact that the description given of Behemoth is not that of several creatures but of only one, generally considered to be the hippopotamus (Hippopotamus amphibius). In fact, a number of Bible translations (AT, La, Ro, NW, JB, RS) use the word “hippopotamus” in the main text or in footnotes to identify the creature referred to by God.

Answer 10

Yes, in Job 40:15-24 & 41;1-34. The bible is describing dragons which is what dinosaurs were refered to prior to 1841. Keep up your search and the Lord will bless you with the answers. Don't let any of these na-sayers deny you of tour blessings. They don't have a clue as to what a life with our Lord and Savior is like.